Mgt_599_Mod_1_Case

Module 1 Case Strategic Management Process/Vision, Goals, Objectives MGT599 - Strategic Management Kraft Foods Group. As a new company, even though the company heritage has been around for over 100 yrs., Kraft Foods Group, Inc. has done well at defining their company’s Mission, Vision and Values in a clear and concise manner. However, as with most anything, changes and improvements over time should be made to keep up with the needs of the company and stakeholders. Hopefully, this case study provides you with insight on how to analyze these three proclamations to see if any improvements can be made. I will accomplish this by identifying, analyzing and drawing relationships between these statements and the stakeholders of the company. Company's Mission Statement and Analysis The mission should give a picture of the company in future. It should be the framework that will guide the strategic planning of a company. The mission statement should drive everything else the company does; it must be the anchor of what the company stands for! Kraft Foods Inc. is known to be the largest confectionery, food and drinks corporation in the United States. There are 155 countries around the world that market its brands. The Food Groups, mission statement is “to be North America’s best food & beverage company” (SourceWatch.org, 2009). It appears that Kraft has a pretty accurate mission statement. We could gather from this statement that their ultimate goal as a company is to be the absolute best in every category, such as quality, delivery, taste, availability of product and as an employer. As a mission statement it accurately, “describes the overall purpose of the organization” as written about by Dr. Carter McNamara in his article on developing the three statements we are talking about (McNamara, 2012). Obviously, one would hope that such a large corporation, as Kraft, would be able to define an accurate mission statement and it appears they have. This mission of Kraft’s Mission statement has a worthy goal and one that could be measured but might be too broad. Company's Vision and Analysis After a thorough analysis of the company website and descriptions about themselves it appears that the company’s vision is to: “Make a Legacy” (Kraft Foods Group Inc., 2013). This was not an easy find, even though it was on one of the first pages a visitor to the website sees. It appears that this vision is a good fit for what Dr. McNamara writes about a company’s vision as being a “vivid description of the organization as it effectively carries out its operations”. Kraft is definitely relying on the past reputation of the company to validate its vision, their past legacy that started back in 1903 and has continued through to this day. In my opinion, this vision is one that is heartfelt and makes you feel as if anyone associated with Kraft Foods Group, Inc to conscientiously thinking about how and what they do today will create a lasting legacy on the world in the future. In this author’s opinion this idea of a lasting legacy addressed in that a business should not only be concerned with the bottom line, but also with what they are leaving behind as a legacy. The vision of Kraft Foods Group, Inc is definitely comprehensive and on point (McNamara, 2012). Company's Values and Analysis While Kraft does not come out directly and state their values, there are multiple statements that allude to the company’s values that can be summed up in one word…Responsibility. Under the tab responsibility, it has a heading of “make some good”, and a short paragraph that states, “From changing our packaging to promoting healthy lifestyles, we continue to evolve the way we do business to reduce our environmental impact and enhance our contributions to society while delivering outstanding financial performance” (Kraft Foods Group, Inc, 2013). While they mention multiple focuses on consumers, the environment, society and their shareholders, it all stems back to a responsibility the company feels to make some good. While this may not actually be their values statement it is a good description of the overall feeling one gets when looking at their website and seeing what the company is promoting. Alignment of Company's Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals with Stakeholders' Interests An article on 12manage.com titled Stakeholder Analysis mentions 12 stakeholders a company may come into contact with however this section will only address 5 specific stakeholder categories: Stockholders, Consumers, Employees, Government and Communities (12Manage, 2013). The Mission, Vision and Values statements all tie into each other and work with each other. While a quick summary of how these stakeholders are affected could be accomplished, a larger impact of the alignment can be realized more effectively by using Kraft’s exact words from their website when dealing with each stakeholder individually. With this being said, stockholders are taken care of because of the company’s focus on a, “Strong Corporate Governance” by, “Disclosure of the board's processes…Independence of a majority of the directors…Respect for shareholder rights…Compliance with legislation and regulations ("Investor Center," 2013)”. Consumer’s needs are met because the company focuses on first “Food Safety and Quality” and secondly by focusing on “Health & Well Being” by “Bringing Nutrition Resources and Education to Consumers” and “Helping People Make Better Choices” ("Responsibility; Helping people make better choices," 2012). The employees are aligned with the company’s Mission, Vision and Values as evidenced by their statement that, “We will treat all employees with the respect they deserve. We will provide them with a safe workplace. And we will inspire them to do great things” ("Responsibility," 2013) Government as a stakeholder is address by Kraft Foods Group, Inc by their statements that they have, “A Commitment to Operate in Legal Compliance and with Integrity” ("Responsibility; Compliance and Integrity," 2013). A commitment to the communities that are affected by Kraft can be seen on their page devoted to community involvement, they state how they are committed by, “Community Partnerships: Fighting Hunger & Encouraging Healthy Lifestyles…Lending a Hand When Disaster Strikes: Humanitarian Aid…Promoting Volunteer Service to Drive Change ("About Us," 2013).” Lastly, we can see that their Mission, Vision and Values statements apply to everyone, everywhere because of their recognition of a responsibility of, “Sustainability – Protecting our Resources…Making a Sustainable Difference…Agricultural Supply Chain…Environmental Policy ("Responsibility," 2013)”. Both the vision statement and mission statement of Kraft Foods Company, address the needs of the consumers. The goals of Kraft Foods Company also are focused on the needs of the consumer. The goal refers to creating a more delicious world. The goal for sustainable business addresses several stakeholder groups. It addresses the needs of the community by increasing sustainable sourcing, eliminate packing, reducing energy use, reducing water use, reducing waste at manufacturing plants, and reducing transportation. These goals are mainly related to the environment. The company goal of gaining trust addresses the stakeholder groups such as consumers, customers, communities, regulators, suppliers and employees. Recommended Changes Kraft’s Mission statement has an admirable goal and one that can be measured. However, looking at it from outside of the company it is an unreachable mission. Their mission could be more focused to invoke a feeling of attainability by all employees. Just being the “best” is too broad. If they could determine some initial categories such as largest retailer or highest sales, and then add to those categories as they progress, an added sense of accomplishment could be garnered each time they hit their targets. Their Vision statement to “make a legacy” is well thought through. It helps that the legacy is already in place and does not take much effort to promote a furthering of the legacy already in place. For their Values statement, I think for a company of their size to realize that they do have a responsibility to their stakeholders and that their business affects so many different avenues is promising. One could not have come up with a better Values statement than what Kraft Foods Group, Inc has accomplished in doing. Conclusion Hopefully, throughout this paper, I have clearly stated and evaluated Kraft Foods Group, Inc.’s Mission, Vision and Values statements and how they directly affect their stakeholders. By identification and analysis of each of the three statements, we could see that Kraft truly has done a good job at defining their company’s Mission, Vision and Values in a concise manner, and while some recommendations were made to adjust their mission statement overall they are focused. References 12Manage. (2013). Stakeholder Analysis. : Summary, Forum and Expert Tips. Retrieved August 25, 2013, from http://www.12manage.com/methods_stakeholder_analysis.html About Us. (2013). Community Involvement. Retrieved August 22, 2013, from http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/About/community-involvement/community-involvement.aspx Anonymous Employee. (Multiple). Kraft Foods Reviews. Career Bliss. Retrieved August 25, 2013, from http://www.careerbliss.com/kraft-foods/reviews/ Investor Center. (2013, August 22). Corporate Governance. Retrieved August 20, 2013, from http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/Investor/corporate-governance/index.aspx Kraft. (2013). Responsibility; Make Some Good. Delicious World. Retrieved August 23, 2013, from http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/DeliciousWorld/index.aspx Kraft Foods Group Inc. (2013). Kraft Foods Group. Kraft Foods Group. Retrieved August 25, 2013, from http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/home/index.aspx Kraft Foods Group, Inc. (2013). Responsibility. Delicious World. Retrieved August 22, 2013, from http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/DeliciousWorld/index.aspx McNamara, C. (2012). Basics of Developing Mission, Vision and Values Statements. Basics of Developing Mission, Vision and Values Statements. Retrieved August 25, 2013, from http://managementhelp.org/strategicplanning/mission-vision-values.htm QuickMBA. (2010). Business Vision and Company Mission Statement. Business Vision and Company Mission Statement. Retrieved August 23, 2013, from http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/vision/ Responsibility. (2013). Our Workplace. Retrieved August 23, 2013, from http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/DeliciousWorld/workplaceandculture/index.aspx Responsibility. (2013). Sustainability – Protecting Our Resources. Retrieved August 25, 2013, from http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/DeliciousWorld/sustainability/index.aspx Responsibility; Compliance and Integrity. (2013). Compliance and Integrity. Retrieved August 20, 2013, from http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/DeliciousWorld/compliance-integrity/index.aspx Responsibility; Helping people make better choices. (2012). Health & Well-Being. Retrieved August 24, 2013, from http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com/DeliciousWorld/healthandwellbeing/index.aspx SourceWatch.org. (2009). Kraft. SourceWatch. Retrieved August 23, 2013, from http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php'title=Kraft